Transport Secretary Chris Grayling says it will be a ‘huge betrayal’ of people in the Midlands and the North if HS2 is not extended past Birmingham.

In a speech on Thursday, Mr Grayling insisted the government was ‘committed’ to the second stage of the £55 billion high speed railway, which will connect Birmingham with Crewe, Manchester and Leeds.

He said recent reports that the second stage could be scrapped were ‘completely inaccurate’.

Mr Grayling was speaking at the Securing HS2 for the North and Midlands event at Westminster, which was organised by Transport for the North, Core Cities and Midlands Connect.

His speech followed an open letter, signed more than 40 council and business leaders, calling on political parties to commit to completing HS2. Staffordshire County Council leader Philip Atkins and Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire Local Enterprise Partnership chairman David Frost were among the signatories.

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Mr Grayling said: “You may have seen media stories suggesting that the second stage of the project might not happen. Those stories are completely inaccurate.

“Let me be very clear. High Speed 2 is vital beyond Birmingham and failure to deliver it would be a dereliction of our duties to improve the life chances of everyone in this country, an abandonment of our ambition for one of the most extraordinary engineering projects since the Victorian age and a huge betrayal of the people in the Midlands and the north.

“Let me reiterate. We are committed to a second stage between the West Midlands and Leeds and between Crewe and Manchester, completing the ‘Y axis’ and it is very heartening to see that the positive impacts of HS2 — both the first and second stage — are already being felt all over the UK.”

Phase 2a of HS2, which could be finished by 2027, will see the line extended from Lichfield to Crewe. High speed trains could also stop at Stoke and Stafford.